Most jurisdictions require safety netting and/or edge protection around the exterior of multi-storey buildings during their. Such edge protection may take any one of a wide variety of different forms depending upon the nature of the building or construction at hand, and taking into account local health and safety laws and jurisdictional requirements. Where the building is of a concrete slab construction, one particular form of edge protection involves the placement of a series of fence or barrier panels around the perimeter of the concrete slab which forms an individual floor of the building to help prevent people or objects from falling off.
Just as there are a wide variety of different forms of edge protection, there are also a wide variety of different manners in which individual fence or barrier panels can be secured to a concrete slab or other similar or such structure. One method of securing the panels in place is through the use of what in the industry is often referred to as a “slab grabber”; typically comprised of a post having an upper flange portion that contacts the upper surface of the slab and a lower flange portion that contacts the lower surface of the slab. The respective flange portions can then be compressed against the surfaces of the slab to secure the post in place, somewhat similar to the manner in which a vice can be secured around an object to be held between its jaws.
As local by-laws and jurisdictional requirements are continuously updated to require the amount of force or loading that edge protection must be capable of withstanding, there continually exists a need for enhancing the integrity of the mounting of posts to the edge of a concrete slab for holding and securing safety fences or barriers. There is also always a desire to develop more cost efficient solutions to issues faced in the construction industry.